


maybe i should ground myself where the mud is

by texaswatermelon



Category: American Horror Story: Apocalypse, American Horror Story: Coven
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Post-Episode: 8x10, a little bit of foxxay and a little bit of mallory running around trying to fix everyone’s lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-27 18:28:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16707754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/texaswatermelon/pseuds/texaswatermelon
Summary: Mallory arrives at the academy like a breath of fresh air and greets Cordelia with a relieved smile and a tight hug, as though they’ve met before. And then Misty Day walks through her front door.





	maybe i should ground myself where the mud is

**Author's Note:**

> this story occurs post-apocalypse, after mallory goes back in time. spoilers for all of season 8 will follow. i'm completely ignoring the "birth of the antichrist is inevitable" concept because i find it boring.
> 
> sorry for the headconon dump at the end, but you know how it goes.
> 
> title from "get well soon" by ariana grande.

Mallory arrives at the academy like a breath of fresh air—unassuming, but appreciated all the same. Cordelia recognizes her instantly as one of their own, even without the unintended display of magic. Mallory gives off an air of power that calls to Cordelia in a way that few other witches can. It’s similar to how Myrtle always felt, though her power had that signature of age and experience. Mallory’s power is fresh and crackling, untapped and eager.

This girl greets Cordelia with a relieved smile and a tight hug, as though they’ve met before; as if she’s been expecting to see Cordelia all along. It’s only off putting for a moment, but then it’s clear that Mallory respects and trusts Cordelia implicitly. And so Cordelia trusts her, too.

And then Misty Day walks through her front door.

Cordelia feels her lungs expand in a way that they haven’t in nearly two years at the sight of that sweet face crossing the threshold like a ray of sunshine. For a second, Cordelia forgets that anyone else is even in the room until Misty draws her attention to Nan, who is precious and happy in her afterlife. Too happy to leave it and return home to them, which breaks Cordelia’s heart. Fiona always did have a way of destroying everything good in her path.

But then Mallory excuses herself and she locks eyes with Misty again—Misty, who looks at Cordelia in wonder as if she were the very moon lighting up the night sky—and Misty reaches out to her for a hug. Cordelia is drawn in like a magnet, or something even stronger. Like the inevitable pull of two asteroids who draw closer to one another until they collide. Misty smells of damp earth and sweet honey, and it’s as if she never left or crumbled to dust under Cordelia’s own hands.

“How I’ve missed you,” Misty murmurs in her ear, her voice comforting like the sound of crickets on a hot summer night. “I was ever so lost in the darkness.”

 _Without you_ is implied, or perhaps Cordelia imagines it, but either way she tangles her fingers into wild curls and cradles the back of Misty’s head like a lost treasure.

 _Me too_ , Cordelia thinks, but can’t bear to say it. _I was lost without you, too._

“You’re safe now, Misty,” she says instead, not even pretending to choke back her tears. “We found you.”

Misty hugs her tighter. Cordelia wonders if there’s any spell she can cast to make her remember the way she feels in this moment, exactly as it is, forever.

They only break apart when Zoe enters, swearing under her breath at the sight of their old friend. Cordelia steps away and watches them unite, followed by Queenie. Tears stream freely down her cheeks, but she’s powerless to stop them.

If she weren’t so overwhelmed with emotion and sheer joy, Cordelia might take pause to stop and consider the coincidence of a young witch appearing on her doorstep with a half-familiar smile just moments before Misty miraculously returns from Hell. As it is, she doesn’t even give it a second thought.

xx

Cordelia dreams of her mistakes some nights—of marrying that useless, lying, cheating witch hunter as a small act of rebellion, of allowing herself to believe even for a second that Fiona might love her, of letting Myrtle convince her to put her to the stake. These events flash like memories through her mind at night and cause her regret like heartburn, but none of them are nightmares. The true nightmare is when she dreams of the Seven Wonders, of allowing her own self-doubt to consume her to the point that she recklessly put all of those girls in danger only for Cordelia herself to be the Supreme in the end.

On those nights, she wakes drenched in sweat with the feeling of ashes still sifting through her fingers, half a sob stuck in her throat, clawing at the sheets as if she could dig her way to Hell through them. Although she will never know what it looked like to watch Misty fade away in the morning light, her mind supplies plenty of terrible images for her. As she catches her breath in an empty four-post bed, house full of sleeping girls, she remembers that one of them actually is Misty now, and breathes a sigh of relief.

If she were a better Supreme, she would have found a way to drag Misty out of that place herself. But Cordelia knows that it’s unwise to look a gift horse in the mouth. Somehow, she has Misty back, and she’ll take what she can get.

She gets out of bed and drifts through the halls of the academy, stopping by each door for a moment to breathe and feel the life force of each of her girls reaching out to her. When she stops by Misty’s door, there’s something missing.

Cordelia turns downstairs and tries to quell the panic rising in her chest. Misty has only been back for a few days now. If she’s gone again already, Cordelia will never forgive herself. Or what if she was never here at all? What if it was a dream? What if she’s simply gone insane in her desperation to have the perfect coven and protect all of her girls?

A presence in the parlor catches her attention, and Cordelia draws to a stop in the doorway, zeroing in on blonde curls draped over the back of the couch. Mallory looks up at Cordelia’s approach, closing the book she’s reading on coven history and the Supremacy.

“Can’t sleep?” Cordelia asks.

Mallory looks sheepish at having been caught.

“I’m sorry. There’s just a lot to learn and I’m excited,” she says.

“No need to be sorry. But those books will be there in the daylight, you know. And Queenie doesn’t take too kindly to students falling asleep in her class.”

Mallory grins and nods.

“I know. I mean I’ve heard that about her from the other girls,” she says quickly. “But you’re right; I should get some rest. Goodnight, Miss Cordelia.”

She takes the book with her, but Cordelia lets her go. There’s something about that girl and the way she navigates this house and the people in it, like she’s been here before, that piques Cordelia’s interest. But there’s still the matter of Misty being out of bed, so Cordelia puts her curiosity aside for another day.

Misty is in the greenhouse, of course. The relief that Cordelia feels at the sight of her cannot be described. Misty’s face lights up when she approaches and Cordelia is helpless to stop herself from reaching out to touch her cheek. Misty leans into her touch. For a moment, her face falls, as if she’s releasing her burdens into Cordelia’s hand (and Cordelia wishes so hard that she could take all of Misty’s demons for herself that it nearly breaks her). When Misty opens her eyes, she’s smiling again.

“Is everything okay?” Cordelia asks, even though she knows it’s not.

“I’m sorry if I worried you, Miss Cordelia,” Misty says, face as expressive as ever. “I just couldn’t get to sleep and I needed something to occupy my mind. I’ve missed this greenhouse.”

Cordelia doesn’t need an explanation. Some people may be fortunate enough to return from Hell, but a piece of Hell always manages to return with them. The fact that Misty isn’t completely insane after two years there is a miracle.

“The plants will be glad to have you back,” Cordelia says. “They haven’t been as lively without you.”

She wonders briefly if any part of Misty hates her for what she’s done. She forced this girl into her own demise and trapped her there. If it weren’t for Nan, Misty would be there still. And if it weren’t for Cordelia, Misty would never have known what Hell looks like. The circles under Misty’s eyes are Cordelia’s fault alone.

But Misty simply looks at her like she always has, like Cordelia is a savior. Like she’s worthy of being revered. Of being loved. Even after all this time away from her mother and away from Hank, it still makes her squirm a bit.

“Your eyes are so pretty,” Misty says, reaching out to trace one of Cordelia’s eyebrows with her fingertip. “I forgot to tell you before. The second I saw you, I knew you were the Supreme. You were glowing like an angel. I’m glad I finally get to see the real you.”

Cordelia feels like she’s done nothing but cry for three days straight. She doesn’t understand what she did to deserve this beautiful girl coming into her life not once, but twice.

She shakes her head and sniffs away her tears.

“You’re the angel, Misty. Not me,” she says with a tone that invites no argument. “Come on. I’ll help you brew something that’ll chase away any dreams tonight.”

xx

Misty begins attending classes with the rest of the girls. She’s an adult, and is technically not Cordelia’s ward, but she’s eager to learn.

Cordelia enjoys stopping by to observe the girls in class. She likes to see who excels at what, and who could use a little practice in certain areas. Zoe and Queenie have turned out to be excellent instructors. Zoe is patient and thorough, while Queenie is fun and lively.

Aside from Misty, there is one other witch who’s caught Cordelia’s attention. Mallory breezes through her classes like she’s already taken them before. She has a style of magic that is almost effortless. She breathes art into her craft the same way that Misty breathes life into dead things. The two of them become fast friends. Mallory’s power of resurgence is almost as strong as Misty’s, though it doesn’t always seem to work the same way.

But that’s a mystery for another time. For now, Cordelia must address the look of pure terror on Misty’s face when Zoe asks her to demonstrate her resurgence in class one day. Misty looks at the dead mouse on the table in front of her and shakes her head, eyes watering.

“I don’t think I can, Zoe,” she says sadly.

Zoe glances at Cordelia, who is hovering just outside of the room. Cordelia frowns.

 _Let it go for now_ , she says silently. Zoe gives her a small nod in understanding and turns a smile back to her class.

“No problem. We’ll get to it another day.”

Misty’s head hangs in shame and Cordelia’s heart breaks. She watches Mallory touch Misty’s back comfortingly before retreating to her office to think.

xx

There is no easy way to broach the subject of Misty’s refusal to use her power without dredging up a ton of pain and misery for the girl, so Cordelia is kind of at a loss. She doesn’t want to cause Misty any more distress than she already has, but she desperately wants to help.

“She must have seen some awful shit in Hell,” Queenie says sympathetically as they walk through the gates on their way back from town. “Two years down there would be enough to mess anyone up for a long while.”

They walk by Mallory, sitting under a tree on the lawn with a stack of books at her side. She’s so engrossed in what she’s reading, lips pressed together in a thin line, that she doesn’t notice them as they pass by.

“I wish I could take those memories away from her, Queenie,” Cordelia says. “I wish I had never asked her to take the Seven Wonders at all.”

“What’s done is done, Delia. But if anyone can help her, it’s you,” Queenie assures her as they enter the house.

“How can you be so sure of that?” Cordelia asks.

Queenie stops in the foyer to stare at her, as if the question should answer itself. But when Cordelia just stares at her, Queenie shakes her head.

“Just talk to her. You’re the Supreme, for Christ’s sake. And you’re her friend. She’ll listen to you.”

xx

She finds Misty in the greenhouse later that night tending to some herbs. Misty’s smile is weaker than usual, but a welcome sight just the same. Cordelia touches her shoulder lightly and works beside her quietly. This, at least, feels familiar. This part she knows.

They work together effortlessly in silence, pruning and tending and collecting ingredients like a well-oiled machine. Their movements are in sync, and Cordelia allows this moment of familiarity to fill up her heart like a gift she never let herself dream she’d receive.

It takes a moment for Cordelia to notice when the sound of Misty’s feet shuffling around the room stops. She looks up to find Misty frozen, holding a half-tilted watering can just above a tomato plant. She’s staring out the window, or at it, perhaps, and crying. Cordelia approaches carefully, looking over Misty’s shoulder to determine the source of her distress. Resting on the windowsill is a dead honey bee.

“I think I’m broken, Cordelia,” Misty whispers, and for a brief moment, Cordelia is inexplicably relieved that she’s dropped the “Miss” from her name.

“Why would you ever think that, Misty?” she asks.

Misty takes a shuddering breath and glances up at the ceiling as if she could wish away her own sadness.

“When I was in Hell, I lived the same five minutes over and over again. I was in a science class and I was supposed to be dissecting a frog, but I couldn’t stand seeing it like that, so I kept bringing it back to life instead. Each time, the teacher would come over and yell at me and force me to kill that poor frog. It was awful. I never wanted to kill a living creature. I screamed and begged him not to make me do it, but he wouldn’t listen. So I brought it back to life again.”

She finally turns to look at Cordelia, eyes rimmed with red and forehead pinched as she tries not to cry harder.

“I know it was only two years up here, but it felt like a lifetime down there. I don’t know how many times I lived through that same scenario, how many times I was forced to kill the frog. I knew it would happen every time, but I couldn’t stop myself from repeating the cycle. I was punished a thousand times over for using the one thing that I’ve always considered to be a gift. That place made me feel like some kind of monster, even more than being burned at the stake, and now I’m afraid to use my own power.”

Cordelia is physically unable to refrain from touching Misty any longer. She reaches out to rest her hands on either side of Misty’s face, thumbs brushing at cold tear streaks and fingertips gently tracing the shell of Misty’s ears.

“Misty,” she says softly, choking on her own emotion. “Please listen to me. You are the purest person I know. There is nothing dark or evil about you. There is nothing bad about your gift. When I had my second sight and I touched your hands for the first time, I felt how good you were so deeply within my soul that it nearly took my breath away. That’s not something that can ever be taken away from you. You have always been perfect to me and you will never be punished for using your God-given talents as long as I have life in my body.”

Misty looks at Cordelia like she almost doesn’t believe her words, like there’s no possible way that she can deserve such kindness. Cordelia knows the feeling, but she intends to do whatever it takes to stamp that doubt out of Misty like the disease it is.

She nods toward the dead bee that Misty had stared at so longingly before. Misty looks at it again with uncertainty. She reaches out a hesitant hand and covers the creature with it, but stalls just before the magic comes. Cordelia covers Misty’s hand with her own, allows her magic to nudge Misty’s gently into action. Misty glances at her uncertainly, but Cordelia just gives her an encouraging smile. Misty takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, and finally lets the magic flow through her.

Cordelia has seen Misty’s power in action, but every witch has their own signature, their own unique feeling when they use their magic. Cordelia has only ever felt Misty’s from afar. To feel it up close like this is something she almost can’t bear. The warmth of it, the pure joy and care that flows through Misty’s hand is enough to cause a silent tear to roll down Cordelia’s cheek. There is nothing about this girl that isn’t beautiful.

When it’s over, Misty pulls her hand away. The bee stirs, stands on its own legs, and flies away. Misty gasps and turns to look at Cordelia with wonder in her eyes. Cordelia can only smile and squeeze Misty’s hand, completely overwhelmed with emotion.

“Every time I think I’ll be trapped in the darkness forever, you shine a light to lead me back out of it. I don’t know what I’d do without you, Delia.”

There are plenty of things that Cordelia is too much of a coward to do or say right now, but the promise that she makes to Misty next is not one of them.

“You’ll never have to find out.”

xx

The amazing thing about going public is that they never have a shortage of applicants hoping to get into the academy. The influx isn’t nearly as overwhelming as it was for the first few months after Cordelia’s initial interview, but there’s still plenty of work to keep Cordelia busy every day. She’s made it a point to ensure that they do regular community work and outreach efforts in order to do their part and show the world that her girls are good people, and each time a news story appears about the academy, more applications roll in.

Their newest recruit is one of the most high-profile they’ve had in a while. Coco seems like a sweet girl, and her entry into the academy comes with a massive donation the likes of which Cordelia has never seen. This kind of money will allow them to buy the new property she’s been scoping out just down the street, and then some. And while Coco’s power may be a bit...unconventional, Cordelia can feel that she is a legitimate witch, and every witch has a place here, money or not.

Coco is skeptical about her place at the academy, but Cordelia assures her and her father that she has a home here. She, Zoe, and Queenie will teach her how to hone her craft beyond food science, and Cordelia is sure that some of the older girls will help her feel welcome.

She summons Mallory to show Coco around the house, and when the girl arrives, her face lights up at the sight of Coco like a Christmas tree. Coco seems to be put at ease by Mallory’s smile, and Cordelia wonders why some people seem to just be drawn to one another. She tries very hard not to think of Misty as she finalizes the details of Coco’s stay with her father.

As the weeks go by, Coco settles in, becomes best friends with Mallory, and offers to start social media branding for the coven. Zoe and Queenie support this idea, so Cordelia allows it and Coco is happy to be of service to her sisters.

Misty steadily becomes more comfortable with her powers again. Day by day, her shoulders relax, the light re-enters her eyes, and the nightmares begin to fade. Cordelia finds her twirling around the greenhouse on a near daily basis, singing along to Fleetwood Mac and teaching some of the younger girls about Stevie. Some nights, when it’s just the two of them, Misty will drag Cordelia in and dance with her, and Cordelia has to fight her own lungs just to breathe through her happiness.

Mallory reads more than ever. If she’s not in class, she’s tucked away in a corner somewhere, surrounded by piles of books and taking notes. Zoe pulls her aside one day so that she can watch Mallory turn a white rose blue and then transform the petals into butterflies.

“She’s amazing,” Zoe says.

Cordelia can’t argue with that. She’s seen plenty of talent over the years, but Mallory’s work is impressive. In time, she will grow to be a very powerful witch. She may even be looking at the next Supreme.

xx

It’s nearly a month later when Cordelia finally discovers that Mallory is not like her other girls.

She’s taking some of the older girls on a walk through the woods. There’s no lesson behind this; Cordelia just thinks it’s good for the girls to get some fresh air and experience nature every once in a while. Misty is beaming, dancing shoeless over dead leaves and underbrush like she was born there. She stops to show Coco and Mallory one of her favorite wildflowers, perfect for making salve that’ll soothe any burn. Cordelia tries her hardest not to stare, not to look at Misty like she’s the most gorgeous thing that Cordelia has ever seen.

They reach the edge of the trees and emerge into a clearing, where they find a dead doe lying a few feet away. She’s been mauled by something, or perhaps she was hit by a car and managed to make it this far before dying. Misty makes a muffled sound in the back of her throat at the sight of the creature and moves to resurrect it, but Mallory beats her to it.

The girl falls to her knees in front of the deer and holds her hands out over the body. Cordelia watches with her own two eyes as the creature’s wounds begin to fade and the body twitches back to life. And then, as if that weren’t enough, the doe begins to shrink, its body getting smaller, whiter, younger. Cordelia can smell the power rolling off of Mallory in waves, but when the little fawn stands up and runs away, Mallory merely turns and beams at them.

“That was incredible,” Misty whispers, looking at Mallory like she’s just seen God.

Mallory’s face falls the second she meets Cordelia’s eyes. Cordelia finally understands how willfully blind she’s been all of this time. Mallory has been a mystery since the moment she showed up on Cordelia’s doorstep, but there’s always been one thing or another distracting her from really investigating this girl. Now, though, Cordelia’s attention is focused on Mallory like a laser beam, and Mallory seems to come to this same conclusion with a sense of dread.

Cordelia shuts herself in her office the moment they return to the academy. She pulls book after book off of her shelves, flipping through each one of them with a very specific goal in mind. Myrtle left quite the collection behind when she went to the stake, and if anyone would have the information that Cordelia is looking for, it would be her. It takes several hours, but Cordelia finally finds the words she’s looking for in a dusty old tome written entirely in Latin.

 _Tempus infinitum_.

A power so rare that it’s been relegated to myth, and even the Supreme is not required to master it. The power not only to turn back time, but to command it. They don’t even talk about this power at the academy anymore, and here it has entered through her doors and lived under her nose for months without her noticing. Mallory didn’t simply revive that deer, she reversed its wounds and sent it back to its youth.

Cordelia thinks back on Mallory’s time here and fights to catch her breath as certain pieces fall into place. The way the Mallory looked at her when they first met, embraced her like an old friend. The way that she has walked these halls as if she’d been here before. Her complete mastery of spells she should have been learning for the first time. All of these occurrences struck Cordelia as odd, but they weren’t enough to give concern her until now. Mallory has been here before, in another time.

But if that’s the case, where did she come from, and what happened in that time that forced her to come back to this one?

xx

She looks for Mallory, but Mallory is nowhere to be found. Instead, she finds Queenie and Coco in the kitchen, testing out Coco’s newfound power of calorie counting.

“Coco, have you seen Mallory?” Cordelia asks, trying and failing to keep the urgency from her voice.

Coco freezes, shaking her head slowly, and Cordelia wonders if she’s ever met a worse liar in her life.

“Coco,” she says sternly. “I know you know where she is. She’s not in trouble, but I need to speak with her.”

“What’d the mini Supreme do now?” Queenie asks.

Cordelia shoots her a look. She didn’t know they were in the habit of calling Mallory that, but of course it makes sense. Her power is unparalleled in this house, from what Cordelia’s seen of the other girls.

She directs her stare back at Coco, whose face crumples under the pressure.

“I’m so sorry, Miss Cordelia. Zoe made me promise not to say anything.”

Cordelia’s blood freezes in her veins.

“Zoe’s with her? Coco, as your Supreme, I demand that you tell me where they are this instant,” she says icily.

Coco grimaces and complies with her command.

xx

They’re in the attic, which has long since been cleansed of Spalding’s spirit and his filth. The young baby that Marie Laveau stole was returned to her family as soon as Cordelia discovered her.

The door is locked by magic, but Zoe’s magic is no match against Cordelia, who flings the door open with a flick of her hand. She stops so suddenly at the sight that greets her that Queenie and Coco nearly run right into her. Mallory is lying prone on the floor, encircled by a ring of salt and candles. There is an empty salt circle next to her, and Zoe sits cross-legged on the floor beside her, keeping watch over Mallory’s body.

“Shit,” Zoe says, jumping up when they enter the room. “Coco, you cracked already?”

“Sorry, Zoe,” Coco says apologetically. “But she’s the _Supreme_.”

Zoe rolls her eyes and turns to face Cordelia, whose face is burning with anger.

“What the hell is going on here, Zoe?” she asks.

“You’re never going to believe me,” Zoe sighs.

“Girl, is she in the damn underworld?” Queenie asks, craning her neck to look down at Mallory.

“The underworld?” Coco squeaks. “You guys didn’t tell me she was doing that! I never would have agreed to keep quiet about this if you did.”

“That’s why we didn’t tell you,” Zoe says obviously.

“You let a brand new student venture into the underworld and coerced another student into hiding it from me,” Cordelia spits. “What the fuck were you thinking?”

“Look, Cordelia, I know you’re pissed, but wait until you hear Mallory’s story. It’s crazy, but it explains so much. And she was going to do the _descensum_ with or without my help, so I figured it was better to be here in case anything went wrong,” Zoe explains. “Or in case it goes right, too, I guess.”

Cordelia zeroes in on the empty circle beside Mallory and swallows back her dread.

“What is she doing down there, Zoe?”

Zoe’s next words come with a grimace.

“She’s getting Madison back.”

They all share a few seconds of stunned silence before Queenie scoffs.

“Oh hell no. She’s risking her life to bring _that_ bitch back? All of you white girls are crazy. I’m going back downstairs,” she says, and leaves the room as promised.

Coco walks over to sink down next to Mallory, face white as a sheet.

“Can you even bring someone back from...where is she?”

“Hell,” Zoe confirms. “Madison is definitely in hell.”

“Ugh! I can’t believe I let her do this,” Coco wails.

“Coco, you had nothing to do with this,” Cordelia assures her. “Zoe, I think it goes without saying that I’m disappointed in you. You should have gotten me as soon as Mallory told you about this. How does she even know about Madison?”

“Cordelia, you should have heard her story,” Zoe pleads. “I’m still not sure I understand it, but she was so sure that she could get Madison back. And...I guess I felt like I had to let her try. Madison’s death is my fault.”

Cordelia frowns.

“You know that’s not true,” she says.

Zoe simply shoots her a dark glare. Kyle is still a sore subject for her, and now is not the time to dig it back up. Cordelia glances back down at Mallory.

“How long has she been under?” she asks.

“Nearly two hours now,” Zoe says.

Cordelia sighs and settles into a nearby rocking chair. What’s done is done. The only thing they can do now is wait for Mallory to return. _If_ she returns at all.

xx

Mallory re-enters her body with a gasp about an hour before dawn, scaring Coco out of a dead sleep. Cordelia rushes over to check on her, but she’s completely unharmed. Her eyes widen in alarm when she sees Cordelia hovering over her.

“Miss Cordelia…” she starts, but Cordelia shushes her.

“Not now, Mallory. We’ll talk about it later. How are you feeling?” she asks, tucking Mallory’s hair behind her ear and gripping her chin to examine her face.

“I’m fine,” Mallory replies. “A little sore from lying on this floor for so long, maybe, but—”

She’s interrupted by Zoe swearing loudly, and Cordelia turns her attention to the other salt circle to see what she’s looking at.

“Oh my God,” she whispers.

To be fair, Madison has definitely looked worse, but seeing her here after two years looking perfectly healthy (if slightly haunted), makes Cordelia feel dizzy. She breathes Madison’s name and reaches out to cup her cheek, to verify that she’s actually here. Madison makes a poor attempt at a smile.

“Surprise, bitches,” she says weakly, which earns a small laugh from Zoe.

“Didn’t they teach you any new catch phrases in Hell?” Zoe asks.

Madison raises an eyebrow and assesses Zoe quietly for a moment.

“No, but I see someone finally taught you how to stop dressing like a homeless person,” she snaps, though there’s no real bite to it and Zoe merely grins. “How long have I been gone?”

“Two years,” Cordelia says. “You have Mallory to thank for your return.”

“Yeah, I gathered,” Madison says, directing her attention to Mallory. “Sabrina the Teenage Witch has some serious street cred in the underworld.”

Mallory pales at that, and Cordelia files it away under her endless list of questions for the girl. Madison turns back to Cordelia and frowns.

“Geez, Cordy, you’re not looking so good,” she says.

Cordelia brings her hand up to her nose and finds blood there. She looks at Mallory, vision suddenly swimming in front of her, and then her world goes black.

xx

She wakes in her own bed in the middle of the day. Misty is curled up in a chair beside her, head resting on the edge of the bed, fast asleep. She stirs when Cordelia shifts, bleary eyes blinking open, and then her hands are instantly enveloping Cordelia’s.

“I was so worried,” she says, looking pained.

Cordelia smiles and tangles their fingers together.

“I’ll be okay,” she says reassuringly. “I’m sure it was just exhaustion. Thank you for staying with me.”

“Course,” Misty says with a smile. “Can I get you anything?”

“I think I could use some tea, if you wouldn’t mind,” Cordelia says. “And could you send it with Mallory, please? I need to speak with her.”

Misty nods and moves to leave, but then pauses.

“They’re saying she brought Madison back from Hell.”

“Yes,” Cordelia confirms. “It was...very impressive.”

“I’m not ready to lose you yet,” Misty says sadly.

“I’m not going anywhere, Misty,” Cordelia promises.

Misty doesn’t look convinced, but she nods and leaves the room anyway. Her words are clear. She thinks what Cordelia has suspected for some time now, what was essentially confirmed this morning. Mallory is their next Supreme, and Cordelia has begun fading.

For a moment, she feels an all-consuming panic grip her chest, making it nearly impossible to breathe. She wonders if this is what Fiona felt like when she realized that her time was nearly up. Is this what every Supreme experiences? And yet, somehow this feels worse. She’s only been the Supreme for two years. It seems almost unfair that her replacement should be here so soon, when Cordelia’s barely had a chance to make her mark on the world. But, a new Supreme arrives when the coven needs her. If Mallory is her replacement, it’s because the universe has decided that it’s her time to go. There is nothing that Cordelia can do but accept her fate. She will not engage in the same selfish, horrid practices that her mother did in trying to secure her own immortality. She will hand the crown over with dignity and grace.

There’s a knock at her door, and then Mallory enters cautiously with a cup of tea in her hand. She sets the tea on the nightstand and helps Cordelia sit up before handing it to her. Cordelia takes a sip of the tea, recognizes the taste as a special blend that Misty has been working on, and waits for Mallory to take a seat in Misty’s empty chair. Mallory picks at her own cuticles nervously while she waits for Cordelia to speak.

“I want to start by saying that what you did was incredibly dangerous and reckless,” Cordelia begins. “Venturing into the underworld is no easy feat, no matter how talented you may be. You could easily have been lost down there forever.”

“I’m sorry, Miss Cordelia,” Mallory says, looking properly chastised.

“You accomplished something that I’ve been trying to do for the past two years. When I lost Misty to _descensum_ , I worked night and day to find a way to bring her back. As you know, I was never successful. And yet, here is one of my newest students, sweeping into my academy with the ability to reverse mortal wounds and bring souls back from Hell. But you’re no ordinary witch, Mallory. And I think it’s time to tell me exactly who you are.”

“It’s a long story,” Mallory says, looking weary.

“I’ve got plenty of time,” Cordelia insists.

Mallory takes a steadying breath before launching into her story. Zoe was right—it’s nearly unbelievable. Mallory tells her about how she first came to the academy in late 2016. She excelled in her classes and felt like she had finally found her place in the world. Two years later, Cordelia began to fade as the Antichrist began his rise to power. This boy plotted the end of the world while Cordelia conspired to save it.

“Once you and Myrtle realized that I had the power of _tempus infinitum_ , you sent Coco and I to hide out in one of the fallout shelters while the rest of the world burned. When my powers were finally strong enough, you came to the bunker to help me fight Michael. I was stabbed and dying and we were going to fail, but you sacrificed yourself so that I could become the Supreme. With my new power, I was able to go back in time and take care of Michael before he ever became powerful enough to end the world. And then I came straight here.”

Cordelia isn’t sure what to say. It’s exactly what she suspected, even if the details of it all are more gruesome and upsetting than she had hoped.

“You’re the only person who remembers it all. That must have been a terrible burden for you,” she says finally.

“It was okay,” Mallory shrugs. “I’m just glad that everyone’s okay and that I get to be here with you all again. I was afraid I’d let you down.”

“You couldn’t if you tried, Mallory. You’re the next Supreme for a reason,” Cordelia says with a smile.

“No,” Mallory says, shaking her head. “I think I messed something up. Everything that’s happening—Coco coming, and me getting stronger, and you fading—it’s all happening too soon. With Michael gone, I thought I’d have more time.”

“More time for what?” Cordelia asks, frowning.

“To save you,” Mallory says simply.

Cordelia grasps Mallory’s hand in her own, giving it a tight squeeze of reassurance.

“Is that what you’ve been reading about all of these months? Mallory, you can’t save me, honey. A new Supreme rises and the old one dies. That’s the way it’s always been,” she says softly.

“I don’t accept that, Miss Cordelia,” Mallory insists. “I’m not even ready to be Supreme yet, and I’m definitely not going to be responsible for you dying even sooner than you’re supposed to. You’re an incredible Supreme and this coven needs you.”

“I’m sure you’ll make an excellent Supreme. I’ll spend whatever time I have left teaching you everything I know,” Cordelia says, attempting a smile for Mallory’s sake.

“No!” Mallory yells, and it’s the first time that Cordelia has seen her angry. “You did everything in your power to save this coven. You always put our needs before yours. You gave your life to save mine. If you could have seen yourself, you would understand why I can’t let you go yet. And if I’m supposedly powerful enough to be the Supreme, then I think I should get to decide when I take over. I know I’m close to figuring it out. I just need a little more time.”

Cordelia feels tears spring to her eyes at Mallory’s display of loyalty. She doesn’t know how to tell her that this endeavor to save her is impossible. She doesn’t know how to teach someone to let go when they’re unwilling to face the truth. The best thing she can do for her girls now is to prepare them for the inevitable.

She has no idea how she’ll face Misty with this news.

xx

There are a lot of things about Madison that haven’t changed since her extended stay in Hell. She’s still got an acerbic tongue to rival even Fiona’s, she chain smokes like cigarettes provide a source of oxygen, and she loves antagonizing people for the fun of it. But she is also softer, more appreciative, less poisonous.

Cordelia finds her smoking on the front porch one evening, watching as people pass by on the street in front of the house. She has elected not to rejoin classes for the time being, which isn’t surprising. Madison has always been restless. She doesn’t need classes. She needs a purpose.

“Zoe said you put Kyle to the stake for killing me,” Madison says through a puff of smoke. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Of course we did, Madison,” Cordelia replies.

Madison seems surprised at the simplicity of Cordelia’s response, but she doesn’t say anything else on the matter.

“Well you must be thrilled to have your favorite swamp witch back,” she says. “And now she has a clone, apparently.”

Cordelia doesn’t take the bait on that topic of conversation.

“I’m glad you’re back,” she says instead, squeezing Madison’s shoulder.

“Yeah. Me too,” Madison agrees quietly. “Hell isn’t as fun as it sounds.”

“You know, I’ve been thinking lately that we could really use someone to go out and be the face of this coven. A PR person. A recruiter, even,” Cordelia muses.

“Were you also just sitting around hoping I’d magically come back from Hell to fill this role?” Madison says waspishly. “You just want me out of your hair.”

“I want you to be happy, Madison. And I know you won’t find happiness hanging around this house. But you always have a home here, no matter what you choose.”

Madison takes a long drag of her cigarette before tossing it into the front yard.

“I suppose I am the hottest one here. If anyone’s going to attract new witches, it’s me,” she says, feigning disinterest.

Cordelia chuckles and follows her back inside.

xx

It’s the middle of the night when Cordelia bolts upright from a restless sleep with one thought racing through her head.

_Sabrina the Teenage Witch has some serious street cred in the underworld._

She rolls out of bed and hastily ties a robe around her waist before padding quickly through the house. Mallory is in the parlor reading again. Cordelia stops in front of her, startling Mallory out of her focused study.

“Miss Cordelia,” she breathes, marking her place and closing the book she’s reading. “Is everything okay?”

“You brought Misty back from the underworld,” Cordelia says, and it’s not a question.

Mallory looks confused.

“Um...kind of. I got a few favors for getting rid of Michael, so I asked Papa Legba to bring her back.”

Cordelia shakes her head. None of this makes sense.

“You could have asked for anything. You could have had anything you wanted in the entire world. Why did you ask for that?” she asks.

“Well,” Mallory says, and then pauses, running a hand through her hair and looking uncertain. “When you were putting Michael through the Seven Wonders, the one thing you wanted was for him to bring Misty back. If he succeeded, it would pretty much guarantee that he was the Alpha, but you risked it anyway. You two looked so happy together. It’s like a piece of you came back from Hell with her. I guess I just assumed…”

“You assumed that we were in love,” Cordelia finishes for her, nearly choking on the words.

“I just wanted you guys to be happy. I already have everything I need here,” Mallory explains.

Cordelia feels like her heart is burning a hole through her chest, but beneath it all, she takes comfort in the knowledge that the coven will be just fine with this selfless angel as its Supreme.

xx

Cordelia is certain of only two things right now:

  1. She is dying.
  2. She is heartbreakingly in love with Misty Day.



To the untrained eye, these two things are unrelated, but Cordelia finally understands. Mallory saved the entire world, and the only reward she asked for was to restore the one person that Cordelia has been missing for her entire life. Misty is Cordelia’s home in any timeline, no matter how dire the circumstances. Cordelia has no idea how long she has left, but she knows that she is done wasting time being cautious and unsure. If her days are numbered, she will spend every one of them by Misty’s side.

xx

She finds Misty in the greenhouse, and she can think of no place more fitting than this. There’s a Stevie record playing in the background, and Misty sings along softly as she tends to the plants. She looks up as Cordelia enters the room, bathed in early morning sunlight from the window and smiling brilliantly. She is ethereal. Eternal. She makes Cordelia’s chest feel like it will crack open from the weight of her wanting.

“Morning, Delia,” she says happily, and then frowns at whatever look is plastered all over Cordelia’s face. “You feeling okay?”

Cordelia doesn’t answer. Can’t answer. If she tries to speak, she’s certain that she’ll disintegrate. Instead, she strides forward with purpose and crashes into Misty like a wave, sinking fingers into Misty’s hair and kissing her like it’s the last chance she’ll ever get. Misty’s breath catches in her throat, and then her hands find Cordelia’s face and she’s pressing Cordelia into the edge of the table, consuming her and breathing life into her all at once.

Misty’s kisses feel like thick, humid air in the sweltering Louisiana summer, robbing Cordelia of all thought and breath. They cannot possibly get any closer, and yet it’s not close enough. They pull and grip at one another like lifesavers in the middle of the ocean. They finally pull apart, breathless and flushed, resting their foreheads together. Cordelia can’t stop touching Misty’s face, and Misty’s hands are fisted in her dress. Her skin is buzzing, electric and charged with magic.

“I feel like I’ve been waiting ages for you to do that,” Misty mumbles.

Cordelia has no idea what took her so long. She doesn’t remember why she hesitated. She has no recollection of what life was like before this moment, what it was like to not know the taste of Misty’s lips.

“I’ve missed you forever,” Cordelia confesses.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Misty promises.

Cordelia can’t make that same promise, so she kisses Misty again and again until they forget how to do anything else.

xx

Cordelia gets weaker by the day. She struggles to make it up and down the steps without assistance, but Misty is always by her side, offering gentle hands to guide her. She brings Cordelia tea and mud and sits beside her with worry etched into her brow until Cordelia kisses it away.

Mallory has resorted to locking herself in the attic while she researches and tests and tries to figure out a solution. Nothing Cordelia says can dissuade her, and Madison, of all people, has taken to helping her whenever she’s around. Zoe and Queenie do their best to keep the situation hidden from the rest of the girls. There’s no sense in worrying them. Cordelia will announce her successor when it’s time.

She spends what time she can with Misty in the greenhouse. When she’s too exhausted to do that, they lie in bed together and Cordelia reads to Misty, who has a fondness for Victorian romance novels. They have always been tactile people, and now is no different. They’re constantly in contact with one another—hands clasped, heads on shoulders or chests, legs entwined.

Although she’s dying, Cordelia is content. Her coven is thriving. Her girls are safe. And her favorite person is by her side day and night. Time spent with Misty is time well-spent, and Cordelia has been spending all of her time wisely these days.

Then Mallory bursts into her room one day with Madison and Coco trailing close behind, startling Cordelia and Misty out of a light nap. Misty jumps from the bed, half ready to attack whoever has disturbed them, until she realizes who it is. She glares at Mallory for the intrusion, but Mallory pays her no mind.

“I think I have it,” she says, and crawls up onto the bed with Cordelia. “Can you sit up?”

It takes some effort, but Cordelia does manage to sit up. Mallory takes her hands and sits cross-legged in front of her. Her hair is tied up in a messy bun and she looks like she hasn’t slept in weeks. Cordelia wishes she would give up on this and just rest.

“This might feel weird,” Mallory says. “Sorry in advance.”

“Hey,” Misty says protectively, moving to separate them.

“Easy, Cujo,” Madison says. “She’s saving your girlfriend.”

Mallory closes her eyes and begins chanting in Latin, concentrating so hard that sweat begins to form on her brow. Cordelia feels nothing for several moments. And then suddenly Mallory’s hands burn like hot coals and Cordelia feels a blast of energy hit her like an atomic bomb, sweeping through her body like a cleansing fire, erasing her fatigue, healing the festering wound at her side, clearing away the fog in her brain. She feels every bit the way she did when she first became the Supreme, when Fiona finally stopped hanging on to that last bit of life in her and just let go.

“Jesus, Mallory,” she gasps.

Mallory smiles, pale and exhausted from her efforts. She tries to stand, but her legs don’t have the strength to hold her. Coco catches her by the arm and holds her upright. Cordelia springs out of bed, completely healed, and rushes over to help.

“You need to lie down,” Cordelia says.

“Yeah, that was a little bit worse than I was expecting,” Mallory says. “But I did it, right?”

“I have no idea what you did, but I feel great.”

Mallory beams.

“I figured out how to use my _tempus infinitum_ to restore you back to your full strength, before I started sucking it out of you,” she says. “It should last for a while, but once it starts fading, we can do it again.”

“Mallory,” Cordelia says with a frown, “I don’t want you weakening yourself to save me.”

“I’ll be fine in a little bit. I’ve been practicing on Madison. Not quite the same, but enough to give me an idea of how this works,” Mallory assures her.

Misty places a grateful kiss on the top of Mallory’s head before scooping Madison up in a crushing hug.

“Ugh, okay, Jesus!” Madison complains, but she can’t keep the smile off of her face.

“I don’t know how to thank you girls,” Cordelia says, voice cracking with emotion.

“Just keep being an amazing Supreme,” Mallory says. “And also maybe brew me some kind of hangover cure.”

Cordelia laughs and helps Coco carry Mallory to bed. She has a lot to catch up on now that she’s healthy again, but for now, she wants to enjoy this time with her girls.

xx

Mallory’s cure lasts for nearly a year before Cordelia begins to weaken again. In that time, their coven only grows.

As it turns out, Madison happens to be an excellent recruiter and a fierce protector of her sisters. She and Zoe put aside all of the nastiness that resulted from their days fighting over Kyle and become close friends, and then…something more than that. Cordelia doesn’t pry. Whatever they have, it seems to work for them. Zoe loves teaching, and Madison likes being free to come and go as she needs. She always comes home in the end.

Queenie takes over their second house as headmistress. She finds more witches of color like herself and teaches them about their rich history, makes them feel welcome and wanted. She acts as a powerful liaison to the local Voodoo practitioners and ensures that the truce remains in tact. She meets a nice young man in his second year of law school who treats her like a queen and accepts her magic as a part of her.

Coco’s efforts at creating a social media presence for the academy are a huge success. She curates a massive following and recruits some of her fellow witches to help manage the accounts and respond to comments and inquiries. Her father continues donating generous amounts of money to the school, despite Cordelia’s insistence that it’s truly not necessary. Coco also learns how to hone her powers beyond gluten and calories. She can now sense danger from a mile away. She’s also become a huge advocate of more accurate food labeling, and has embarked on a mission to get Congress to pass a new law about it.

Mallory has taken a shine to teaching the younger girls. She works with them patiently, teaching them how to control their wild powers and helping them with general studies like math, science, and history. She uses her knowledge of the past to encourage Cordelia to improve relations with the warlocks at Hawthorne. It’s slow going, but at least John Henry and Behold are receptive to her efforts. Cordelia takes her along to important meetings and council sessions to ensure that Mallory is ready to take on the Supremacy when the time comes.

Misty continues to fill Cordelia’s life with light and love. Although Cordelia’s position calls her away from the academy more than she’d like, the two of them are inseparable whenever she’s home. Misty finds her calling in the healing arts, helping those who can’t or won’t see a doctor to heal their wounds. She teaches resurgence and potions classes to any girls who may be interested, and converts more than a few of them into Stevie fans.

At the end of the year, Cordelia takes stock of all that they’ve accomplished and feels immensely proud. A year ago, she didn’t even think she’d be alive this long. Now, she’s watching her coven continue to blossom into the greatest sisterhood she’s ever seen.

When Mallory invites her into the attic and sits across from her on the floor, taking Cordelia’s hands in her own, Cordelia thinks back on that first day, when Mallory swept in here like a dream and changed her life forever. She almost can’t believe how far they’ve come and how much she’s grown to cherish this girl.

“Ready for another year as the Supreme?” Mallory asks with a smile.

Cordelia grins. Together, they will build a legion and a legacy that will outlast even the end of days.

 


End file.
